Russian troops causing ‘extremely tense’ situation: Merkel

Bloomberg

German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed concern at continued Russian troop deployments around Ukraine that the European Union estimates at 100,000, while the government in Kyiv appealed for sanctions to be tightened on its neighbour.
The situation is “extremely tense and very worrying as a result of the concentration of forces on the Russian side of the Ukrainian border,” Merkel told a virtual Council of Europe event. The US Pentagon said that the buildup exceeds the one that preceded Russia’s 2014 military intervention.
Tensions between Kyiv and Moscow have spiraled in recent weeks after Russia began military drills and ceasefire violations jumped in the conflict that began when Vladimir Putin seized Crimea from Ukraine seven years ago.
Russia wants more autonomy for the breakaway Donbas region, where Russian-speakers dominate. That could derail Ukrainian plans to join the EU and NATO — goals that are backed by the majority of its 42 million population.
The Kremlin accuses its neighbor of planning an offensive to regain control of Donbas — a claim Ukraine denies. The fear is a resumption of large-scale fighting that mostly ended after a 2015 peace accord. More than 13,000 people have died since the war first erupted. Nato, the US and the EU have all urged Russia to de-escalate.
Ukraine said on Tuesday that Russia is gathering troops on its border from multiple directions, calling the deployments “alarming.”
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told Bloomberg Television he isn’t disappointed that the EU has yet to hit the Kremlin with new penalties. But he said he’d prefer measures to prevent Russian escalation rather than mitigate it if it takes place.
The best way to prevent aggression is “to send a very clear message to Russia by launching a discussion on a new round of sanctions,” Kuleba said.
He reiterated that Ukraine wants a path to Nato membership, though the absence of broad Western backing means joining remains a distant prospect.
Russia, meanwhile, held military exercises in the nearby Black Sea — the latest venue for confrontation between the two former Soviet allies and the scene of another flashpoint in 2018, when a Ukrainian navy vessel and its crew were seized.
Russia said the training manoeuvres, involving more than 20 naval ships and warplanes, were scheduled. But Ukraine complained last week of impromptu shipping restrictions in the area.